Thursday, 26 December 2013

What: The brief of this exercise was to visit one or two
locations where I could return a number of times in different lighting and
photograph on each occasion.

Where: Work

When: First thing in the morning as soon as the sun had risen
and at the end of the day after the sun had set.

How: I had
made note of these locations as viable locations as I was easily able to
revisit these locations a number of times during the day and easily photograph
the conditions.

The only slight problem I had with these locations are that I was
unable to setup a tripod due to the space restrictions and the ability to
transport a lot of equipment across the site to these places.

In the first location I really wanted to
capture the difference in lighting conditions as although there was only a
little difference in shadow there was a vast difference in the colouration of
the light within the space.

During the day a lot of light comes in
through the room which is then supplemented with the large lights around the
roof of the workshop. When the sun sets the shapes in the roof supports are
clearer and better defined but the shadows are coloured by the artificial
lights giving them a yellow tint.

The floor also takes on the yellow tint
making it more orange than in natural light.

I was surprised to find that I only had to half my shutter speed
at the end of the day to capture the final image of the workshop. Even though I
was in a slight different position, I can easily compare the light conditions
and the shadows, the space looses height as it has lost the brightness from the
skylights and I feel that the walls are slightly closer as they are not
reflecting the light back into the workshop area.

I decided to revisit the link bridge to capture the differences in
light even on a dull day. As the bridge runs east/west it captures a lot of
light during the day and a lot of the shadows are completely lost in the
brightness. Nearest the camera there is a small spot of shadow created by the
building behind the bridge which blocks the sun coming in from the left hand
side of the camera.

In the evening the bridge loses a lot of light as the darkness
below and to the sides of the bridge creates a dark tunnel around the space and
it spaces the space into a tunnel rather than a bridge. The inside of the
bridge is light up by the small lights in the roof, as the main purpose of the
bridge is to allow movement from A to B it is not covered in lots of light as a
lot of light is not really needed, enough light is required to allow people to
see where they are going and that is it.

There are small shadows created behind the supports of the bridge
as they are thrown into relief by the roof lights.

I was surprised to find out how much light was lost as the shutter
speed dropped from 1000th of a second down to a 45th of a
second. I had expected the lights in the roof to produce much more light that
what they actually did.

When I was at the bridge in the morning I took a modified camera
which allows me to capture a colour Infra Red photograph, as an experiment to
see if I could capture a completely different point of view on the lighting
conditions of the space.

In the image I was able to capture a lot of repeating shadows
which did not show up on the colour images. It also cast the other end of the
link bridge into complete darkness making it a much sinister image, partially due to the image compression as I used the smallest focal length on a telephoto lens.

I am pleased to see that I was able to meet the brief and show that these areas changed with the lighting conditions.

What: The main brief of this exercise was choose two locations or
spaces which are designed for a particular activity and to capture an image
that attempts to capture the users point of view, taking into account height,
orientation of the image and the lens focal length. Where: At the museum and at work. When: Two differing points in the day; at the museum it was mid
morning and at work it was in the early evening. How: After
making a couple of notes and examining a few locations I decided upon the two
locations as they are vast spaces who are solely dedicated to movement of
people from one location to another and they are almost ignored by the users on
a daily basis. Museum Stairs

Attending the
museum I had to move in a non linear fashion into the buildings due to my
limited mobility, therefore I get a unique point of view of the establishment
as I am mainly routed through less used locations.

I wanted to
capture these stairs specifically as they have been designed at an angle which
you cannot see when you are using the stairs directly, it is only when you are
about to descend the stairs that you notice the odd angle that the stairs have
been built into.

I chose this
location and angle as it is at this point of time as I approach the stairs that
the oblique angle of the stairs first defines itself to my eyes. I did not use
a wide angle lens as this pulled in too much of the background and when
orientated into portrait the wide angle lens still distorted the final image. I
wanted the aperture to be wide enough to show that there was something at the
bottom of the stairs but at the same time I did not want to blow out the whites
of the tiles nor did I want to lose the grain of the wooden steps.

Link Bridge

I wanted to
capture this space as it is a special space solely built to allow movement
between buildings while still being a secure break between buildings to prevent
fire moving between the buildings. Its design as a security feature as well as
a transit space is ignored by most users.

I wanted to
capture the amount of space dedicated to the “room” and I wanted to capture it
in the dark as the sides are made of tough glass and during the day the amount
of light coming into it can be blinding. At night however the space becomes a
bright route between two dark spaces.

I really wanted
to use the wide angle lens to capture not only the width of the bridge but the
length. The bridge space spans off into the distance and the exit doors can be
faintly made out in the glare of the lights as they repeat off into the
distance. I also wanted to capture the Fibonacci like repetition of the light
reflections on the floor.

I am very happy with the final choice
treatments of the spaces, I had a few attempts at spaces which in my mind made
good choices and examples but when I visited the areas I could not capture the
final image treatment that I wanted. I also had a few problems with low light
in a few areas as I could not always get to the locations when the natural
light was best.

What: The main brief of this exercise was to examine a space and think about that it is intended to be used for, has the design of
the space as it stands, been a successful design; does it fit the function of
the space. Transfer this thought process into an image. Where: At Home, Indoors When: Just after sunrise. How: After making a lot of notes about the idea of the space of the bedroom, I think translated
the thoughts into a single image. Locate a space: After thinking about different locations and spaces I decided to use the one space that I practically function from on a daily basis. The Bedroom Who uses the space: I do. Intention of the space: The dictionary definition of the bedroom is a room furnished for and used for sleeping and for the storage
of clothes.
How many aspects are there to the activity: Sleep hygiene tells us that the bedroom and the bed should only be used for sleeping and that you should not read, watch TV, or eat in bed/bedroom and that the bed and the bedroom have to be associated as the a relaxing location.

However many of us do not adhere tightly to these
rules and that the bedroom has become a multi function area where rest and
activity overlaps. People will watch TV, read, use computers until they become
tired and at that moment the bedroom and the bed returns to the intended
function which is a room where people sleep.

In reality in this point in time, the bedroom here
in this image has had the function changed;

It is a study spot, an office from where I work, a
reading room, a cat space, a place to watch TV, read books, and eat and to
listen to music. As well as the traditional function of a place to rest;
especially when I am personally struggling to maintain a clear thought process
due to chronic fatigue and pain. It can be clearly seen in the image that the
area is cluttered with books, papers, magazines, laptops and cats and is
clearly showing signs of occupation and a change of function from the
definitive description and intended idea of what the space should be.

I decided upon a low light shot as I wanted to
capture the room as intended, using the wide angle lens allowed to me to
capture the space in a non architectural style, I wanted to converge the
verticals and show that there was some form of human occupation of the space. I
also wanted to capture the true day to day function of the space, I did not
want to hide the fact that the space has had to become multifunction due to my
condition.

About Me

I am attempting to complete the OCA Course,Context and Narrative and this is my learning log for this course.
I have fibromyalgia with complications; Neuropathic and Neurogenic pain in my legs and spine and I have a tonic pupil which neither reacts to light nor contracts or dilates. Recently I have been told that this is further compounded by a loss of all central vision in my left eye. This is all making the course a little harder than I expected.